About Our Branch

The Malloy/Jordan East Winston Heritage Center is truly unique in the Forsyth County
Public Library system. Customers experience a traditional library setting, but the
resources available are from the African-American perspective. The Heritage Center’s
mission is to preserve African-American heritage, history, and culture.

The Library Manager at M/JEWHC is Yolanda Bolden. The 5,800-square-foot building
is located in downtown Winston-Salem at 1110 East Seventh Street. Over 36,000 visits
were made by members of the community, and nearly 5,000 of them are registered borrowers.
The small Friends of the Library group was first organized in 1948.

The Heritage Center offers a full range of library services. It offers many programs
to the community, such as:

Shades of Forsyth oral history program

An annual community Kwanzaa celebration.

Red Stiletto Book Club

“String of Pearl Storytellers” calls the Malloy Jordan East Winston Heritage Center
their community library. This group of women has adopted the library branch and
continues to organize storytelling programs that share pearls of history, culture
and tradition with the community.

Annual Black History, May Fest and Kwanzaa programs for preschool children

Story time Training for Preschool Educators – State approved literacy training that
awards clock hours and credit to preschool educators.

A permanent display of historic photographs is housed at the Heritage Center. The
photographic collection includes the majority of the Atkins High School graduation
class photos from the 1930s to 1971.

This branch is the home of the Children’s Outreach Department of the library system.
Two youth-oriented mini-libraries are managed from the Heritage Center.

Malloy/Jordan East Winston Heritage Center History

A library branch to serve African-American residents of Winston-Salem opened on
February 15, 1927. For four years, it occupied quarters in the Chestnut Street Branch
of the YWCA. The Library was named for famous African-American poet, George Moses
Horton.

In 1931, the city rented one room for a library at 216 East Sixth Street, formerly
a store. The Library remained there until 1937 when another room was rented and
the space was doubled.

In 1953, Dr. H.D. Malloy, Sr., Dr. H. Rembert Malloy, and Dr. J.C. Jordan donated
land for a new library facility on East Seventh Street. It faced the Kate B. Reynolds
Memorial Hospital.

On November 14, 1954, the East Winston Branch Library was dedicated and opened to
the public the next day. The building was designed similarly to the newly finished
Central Library on West Fifth Street.

In 1998, the branch was designated a Heritage Center. On January 12, 2004, the Forsyth
County Commissioners changed the name to the Malloy-Jordan/East Winston Heritage
Center. The dedication program was held on April 25, 2004.